I admit that I have not very often tried to take pictures in the dark, so the last weeks I was giving me the task to go out when there is no natural light left. To make it a little bit more challenging I am not using a tripod (and also I sometimes am a llitle bit lazy to carry a tripod). In an environment where you have no natural light you have to search for areas with artificial light to use these as your light source, in those illuminated areas the action should take place.

I live in Vienna, so is not very difficult to find areas with artificial light, such as normal street lighting but also bright lit buildings and sights. Those "island of light" combined with spot metering allow the creation of high contrast pictures. In low light situations it is hard to get sharp pictures, especially handheld. Fast lenses and high ISO kan help, but the limit for usable pictures is quickly reached (motion blur and noise). In many situations motion blur is not unwanted and can help to tell the story, this depends on what is intended to express with the picture.